James Freaking Potter
by onlygreyskiesabove
Summary: It's Christmas time at Hogwarts in Lily and James' last year at Hogwarts. Forced to work together as Head Boy and Girl, the pair need to work things out. It's my first story, so please bear with me as I get used to this whole thing. Rated T because I'm paranoid. I've noticed a few spelling mistakes, and a few POV mistakes as well. I'm working on fixing them as soon as possible.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- All credit for characters and locations goes to J.K Rowling and her amazing mind.

Lily didn't know why she was so nervous. It was James' Freaking Potter. She'd known him for years. Mind you, he hadn't been making things easy on her in the past few weeks. Every time Lily had seen him, he'd gotten even more unbearable. It was as if he could sense the end of their companionship growing closer with the coming of the close of their final year at Hogwarts. With little over a half a year left, James' efforts had doubled. The other Marauders had taken to talking to her in the hallways, always dropping hints about James, and pointing out his good features. Not that Lily Evans hadn't noticed those. She just chose to ignore them whenever James was around.

That was easy enough to do when he was near her. An unbearable git, James teased her, obviously flirting, while at the same time making fun of Snape. She could overlook the few good points he had, but only when he was around. When she was free of his presence, that was when her mind wandered to the good features of James Potter.

_Deep breath in, Lily, and out. _She thought to herself as she sat in the great hall alone. Looking at her watch, which read 9:03, Lily sighed. James, as always, was late. Funny, considering that big fancy watch he always wore. You'd think he'd use it more often.

Standing up, she took out her wand and began moving Christmas trees on her own. Hagrid had brought them in for her around 8:45. She'd been here early, hoping to get a head start on the process of decorating the Great Hall for the Christmas Feast the next day. All of the decorations had been organized for quick installation. Easy as a two person job, of course, which was usually done by the head girl and boy. Unfortunately for Lily, James Potter was a rebellious and never punctual. Lily had major revision to do for once school resumed. This had to be done quickly, and impossible feat for a single girl.

But her expectations for James Potter hadn't come through. He was late, and she was angry. Having moved all of the boxes by herself already, fuming, she turned to them and began.

Laying on the table among the boxes, James Potter grinned at her. "Stop staring Evans," he began, running his hand through his messy black hair. He sat up as Lily stood there, mouth open. A wave of heat rushed over her as he finished his statement. "You look slightly less stunning when you do that." Anger. Not embarrassment. Or love. Anger. That was the cause of the shade of red her face had reached. Anger.

Lily didn't trust herself to speak at that moment. Regardless of how much she didn't like him, she had to get along with Potter or she wouldn't be able to study. She lifted a box filled with lights and put it in front of him without a word. James looked from the box to the redhead, and sighed. "Look Red, I'm sorry I'm late. I was stopped in the hallway. Moony-Remus, can vouch for me." Lily just nodded, grabbing a second box and placing it in front of her tree. Lifting up the tinsel with her wand, she began to walk around the large pine tree.

James didn't try to speak to his companion again, other than for instructions on where to put things. After dropping her third green and red dressed wooden elf, James suggested they take a break. The Head Girl nodded silently, taking a seat on the nearest bench. Being holidays, the usual four long house tables had been replaced by a few round tables placed close to the front of the hall. Quite a few students from the houses had opted to stay at school instead of going home. Not many last year Gryffindors stayed. Only Remus, Lily,Frank Longbottom, Sirius and Alice Lancaster remained of the year. The final Marauder had chosen to go home over the holiday.

"Why didn't you go home Red?" James' voice pulled Lily out of her thoughts. She stared at him for a moment, debating whether or not to answer. In the end, she decided to try to be civil.

"Family problems at home. Nothing you would understand, I'm sure." Lily glanced at the ground. Tuny and Lily had a huge row the summer before her final year. She shuddered thinking about it. She'd made her sister tell her fiancé about Lily's abilities, after years of her protesting. Petunia hadn't understood the witches longing to no longer be looked at like an outsider. The Evans family had been telling Dursley that Lily'd been going to a "special school out in the country." Vernon had assumed that she'd had a mental problem and treated her accordingly. So Lily had made Tuny tell him. He vowed to never let her see Tuny again, and they'd argued. Lily couldn't stand to look at Tuny after some of the things she'd said to her last time they'd spoken. So when Professor McGonagall sent around the sign-up sheet during Transfiguration last week, Lily just passed it on.

James laughed. "I wouldn't understand? Red, I'm the king of family problems." Surprisingly though, he didn't push her for a further explanation. Instead he hopped up onto the table and lay down. "You know what I like to do sometimes? Don't tell anyone, but I come here and just stare at the ceiling. It's an exact replica of the real night sky." Lily looked upwards.

In the seven years she'd been here, the only times she had looked up to see the sky were on feast nights. Well, there had been many, many nights where she would stay up late watching the stars from her dorm window. But they weren't like these. Stretched out across the entire Great Hall ceiling was the night sky. It was obviously a clear night outside, and it showed here. Her neck began to hurt. James scooted over a bit on the table.

"You know, Lily. It's a bit more comfortable up here. I won't try anything, I swear. I just need to make it up to you for being late, and I don't like you not speaking to me. It's unnerving." She looked at James, eyes narrow. James, being James, met her gaze and didn't look away until she stood up. He turned his head to look back up at the sky as she climbed up onto the table, laying down next to him. They stared for a few minutes. Surprisingly, it was James who reminded them that they should get back to work.

Together, they picked up boxes and brought them to the next tree. They managed to make quite a bit of progress, making small talk. She absentmindedly wrapped a string of lights around a tree when she bumped into James, who was heading in the other direction with ribbon. Feeling stupid, they did that awkward two person dance, where you both try to go the same direction to get around each other and stopped.

Then Lily did something incredibly stupid. It seemed right at the time. "James." She began. "Why do you fancy me so much?" James' goofy grin faded.

"In all honesty Red?" James took a step closer to her, his face getting closer to hers. She could feel her cheeks redden again. "The first time I saw you, on the train ride here… when Sirius and I hid in your compartment. I saw you with Snivellus, and thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." James got even closer to her. She could see her reflection in his glasses. "And as we grew up, every year I would try to get you to see me, to pay attention to me. But you wouldn't give me the time of day. I thought maybe it was Snivellus, so I picked on him. You've driven me mad Lily Evans. Past the point of no return."

She was sure her face was the same color as her hair by that point. Could it be? Was Lily Evans actually feeling something towards James Freaking Potter? SHe started to lean in towards James. "How mad Potter?" Lily asked, staring into his eyes. She'd never noticed how nice his eyes were. Well, she'd never gotten close enough to see. His hand grabbed hers.

"I'd battle an ogre for you, Lily Evans. I'd brave a Veela to see you again. I'd ride on the back of a Hippogriff, or a Dragon just to see you." He lifted her hand to his lips, and she could feel the soft warm breath on her skin. Butterflies in her stomach. She didn't think our bodies could have gotten any closer without touching. James' tall figure leaned over me. He continued.

"I've never wanted anything so badly. All I want to do is take you back to my Head Boy room and do unspeakable things." James' wink was interrupted by her body pushing past his.

The moment was gone. Lily Evans was infuriated with James Potter again. All those things he'd said, ruined by one statement. One stupid, stupid statement. She stormed back to the boxes, grabbed one and hastily made her way across the Great Hall to another tree. She could hear the echo of his footsteps behind her. Feel his hand grab her shoulder, turn her around, and grab the box that she was holding, placing it on the nearest table, James continued to speak.

"C'mon Evans. I was only kidding! I mean, yeah, I'd like to do that stuff… but who wouldn't? I mean, I'm sure that even Remus would like to do that stuff if he found a girl that was into school as much as he was. I was only kidding about doing that stuff though! My point is that I like you Lily…" SHe didn't let him finish.

"Potter. You blew it. I, am tired, and you've embarrassed me and yourself enough tonight. I'll let you finish with the remaining trees. You're the one that decided to show up late, and there isn't much left to do. I'm going to bed." With that, she stormed out of the room. If she'd turned to look back, she would have seen James, staring at her as she left, his jaw dropped wide open.

He'd never gotten so close to finally winning Lily Evans.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Again, all credit for the characters and locations go to the lovely JKR. **

Her foot kicked something. Lily startled awake as she heard it hit the floor. Alice Lancaster, the only other person in the room jumped out of bed, fully aware of everything. Lily, on the other hand, was frozen in her bed. Alice made her way over to her roommates bed and picked up a small wrapped parcel from the ground.

"G'morning Lily. Merry Christmas. I'm going to find Frank." Alice grumbled as she grabbed her robe and left the room.

Opening the parcel that Alice had handed her, she found a silver heart necklace with a card from her Mum and Dad, telling her to have a nice Christmas. At least she was still on talking terms with her parents. She continued on into her presents to find a new quill, a new journal, and the latest book from her favorite Muggle author.

Lily got dressed in her favorite sweater and jeans, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and went down for breakfast. The meeting from the night before had almost completely been erased from her mind while she slept.

All of it had come rushing back when she entered the Great Hall. The few other kids that had come down early Christmas morning were all in a cheerful mood, talking about the same thing that she was noticing now.

James had outdone himself. The entire hall glittered as if it were covered in frost. It wasn't cold or slippery though, as Lily found out while making her way towards an empty table. The trees spun, and snow drifted down from the ceiling, melting before it touched the students' heads. A few younger kids from Hufflepuff came up and congratulated Lily on a job well done. Lily nodded and smiled, informing them that it had mostly been James Potter's work.

"Lily. We need to talk to you." Lily jumped at the sound of voices behind her. Turning, she saw Remus Lupin and Sirius Black sit down at her table. Sirius looked as if he'd had a bad night's sleep.

Sirius looked up at Lily as he sipped a goblet full of orange juice. "Prongs has been beating himself up all night, keeping us up, and we are assuming you're the reason. You were the last one to see him." Remus rolled his eyes at his friend and looked at Lily. Thinking for a moment, he spoke to her in a soft tone.

"Lily. Do these decorations have anything to do with it, would you think? Or maybe the fact that James kept repeating the words, 'I'm a stupid bloody git,' over and over again?" Remus shot me a knowing look as Sirius grinned.

She swallowed a piece of toast that had appeared on her plate. "James was a bloody git." Lily agreed with Remus.

"You forgot the stupid in the stupid bloody git," Sirius added. His eyes darted to the door and quickly back to the redhead, where he shot her a dazzling smile. James plopped into a seat beside her before he realised who the third companion at the table was. His hair was, as usual, untidy. His eyes, like Sirius and Remus' had dark circles underneath, which stared at the unusual guest.

"I see I'm late to the party." James spoke softly as his breakfast appeared. The four of them sat in silence and ate. Finishing her meal in record speed, Lily looked up at the two Marauders she wasn't mad at, and apologized for not being able to answer their question. Turning, she nearly made it to the doors before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Lily." James' voice was low, and she could feel his breath on her neck, reminding her of last night.

"What is it Potter?" She sighed. Lily didn't want to deal with him again. James took her hand and led her out of the Hall and into an empty corridor. The only light the two could see by was the torch light. It almost gave James a scary look with his dark rimmed eyes and messy hair. The only thing stopping it from being scary was the sad expression on his face. She thought back to the night before, looking into his eyes and seeing the hopefulness as she leaned in closer.

"Last night," James started, bringing her back to the present. "Last night was amazing to me. I thought I'd finally gotten you after all these years. I was a jerk. I'm sorry." This would have shocked even Sirius, James' closest friend. James, in all of his years of teasing, had never apologized. "I know it doesn't make up for it, and I don't expect to get another chance, but here. I got you something." James held out a small box. Lily took it and put it in her pocket without looking at it.

James' eyes looked only slightly happier, but it made a difference. "Merry Christmas Red." Lily nodded at him.

"Merry Christmas Potter." With that, James turned back to the Great Hall and walked off with his hands in his pockets.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- All credit for characters and locations goes to JKR and her mind. **

The box was small enough to fit in her hand, and was wrapped in silver paper that sparkled in the light. Lily had discarded the parcel on her bed after being invited for a snowball fight on the Quidditch pitch by the other seventh year Gryffindors Alice Lancaster and Frank Longbottom. Remus and Sirius had joined in as well as a few other housed students and some younger year Gryffindor.

The Christmas air was warm, but still cold enough to maintain the perfect snow consistency. Lily herself had gotten a few good hits in before her fingers had gone numb. A few other kids had used magic so their fingers stayed warm, but Lily, having grown up in a non-magical environment, had learned to associate numb fingertips as part of the event of a snowball fight. Now, she needed to go upstairs to her dorm and change her clothing. She'd been soaked by Sirius and Remus, who'd bewitched some snow to throw itself at whomever was nearest, adding to the chaos.

As she exited the field, she saw James Potter walking towards it. She'd hoped he wouldn't see her, but it was inevitable. He veered off the path to walk beside her.

"I'd have figured that you of all people would know where the Quidditch Pitch was Potter." She joked as he fell in step, walking back towards the castle.

"Well, I was headed in the right direction, but I was distracted by something pretty."

"Must of seen your reflection in the ice or something Potter." Lily countered quickly before she could register the compliment. James said nothing, which was a change for him. She couldn't hear his footsteps because the cold December wind had picked up slightly.

She turned around to see James had stopped. Snow began to fall as they stood a few feet apart. The wind blew his hair around a bit, and his red and yellow scarf lifted slightly. James had his silly grin on.

"You know what Red? I think I've changed my mind. I'm not in the mood for a snowball fight. I think I'll head back to the school." With that, he began walking back towards her.

Confused, Lily began walking with him. James turned to look at her with a fake surprised look on his face. "Oh! I see you'd like to join me. Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

She shot him a look. "Well, it's not like I have a choice do I? We're stuck in Hogwarts together, and I'm friends with the same people you are. Plus, it seems like I'm not going to be rid of you." Lily playfully bumped into James as they walked towards the doors.

Ten minutes later, she'd changed into a comfy sweater and sweatpants. James had told her he'd be off to find something to eat, seeing as they'd missed lunch for the snowball fight.

So Lily, sat on her bed, holding the silver parcel that James had given her. Judging by the size of the box, it could only be some form of jewelry. That way James would know if she liked it. She'd have to wear it.

Lily silently cursed James for thinking ahead. Why couldn't he have gotten her a nice book or record, like a normal person? Well, the answer to that was simple. James Freaking Potter was not a normal person.

James Freaking Potter, would, however, have to wait for her to open this present until later. She grabbed her book and went down to the common room so she could read by the warm fire.

Getting involved in the plot of her story, she didn't hear James enter the room behind her. She also didn't notice as she crept up behind her and slowly slide a bowl of popcorn in front of her face, and grab the book from her hand as she jumped. James hopped over the back of the couch to sit on the red couch, his long legs folded beneath him. Apparently in the time it had taken Lily to get ready, James had also showered, shown by his still wet, still untidy hair. His jeans and sweater had been replaced by baggy pyjama pants and a loose Quidditch shirt.

She noticed how James looked kind of vulnerable when he wasn't dressed up, like usual. Other than his hair, James didn't try to dress up to impress anyone. He just always happened to look perfect.

Right now, on the other hand, Lily could see through the perfect illusion that was James Potter. For example, there was a hole in the front of his over-sized shirt. His glasses sat crookedly on his face, revealing more of his hazel eyes, as he read the back of her book.

As if he could sense her staring, James looked up and smiled at her. He motioned towards the book. "This sounds interesting. It's a Muggle book right?" Lily nodded.

"I just got it from my Mum and Dad today. It's by my favorite author. I like the humanity of it." James stuck his tongue out.

"Humanity. You mean Muggle-ness, don't you? I mean, I'm all for Muggles. Just never understood how they can get anything done. They don't live very long, and they spend so much of their lives getting things done. They rarely have time for fun." James looked down at the book again. He started grinning, as if he'd gotten an idea. "Hey, Evans. You want this book back, right?" Lily glared at him.

"Yes. But because of the look on your face, I'm assuming that won't be easy, will it?" James' smile widened even more. "Spit it out Potter. What do you want?"

"A kiss," James said simply. Lily almost hit him. Then she did something stupid. Again.

Lily Evans kissed James Freaking Potter.

James himself was so much in shock that he dropped the book. Neither of them heard it hit the ground. He wrapped his now empty hands around Lily's waist as she moved closer to him on the couch. Her hand made its way up to his hair where her fingers tangled themselves into his hair. She was surprised at how soft it felt.

How long had she wanted this to happen? To run her fingers through James' untidy black hair? Feel his hands on her waist? Lily found herself lost in the moment.

For James, this was what he'd been fighting for every day for years. Had it really been that easy though? Stealing her book and demanding a kiss in return? It couldn't be.

Both occupants of the Gryffindor Common room were brought out of their haze as they heard a noise coming from the portrait entranceway. Sirius Black could be heard giving the password.

Lily shot back to her side of couch, grabbing her book and opening it up to a random page, staring intently at it. James, on the other hand, was staring intently at Lily. The moment had been over so fast, it'd almost been like a dream. He watched her as her face slowly reddened, gradually catching up with her hair. She flipped the page. James was still staring at her as Remus, Sirius, Alice and Frank came into the room, soaking wet and freezing cold. Everyone but Sirius went up to their rooms to change. The Marauder hopped over the back of the couch, spraying a protesting Lily, and putting an arm around James.

"Well… isn't this cozy. Have you two been cooped up here all afternoon then? Must have been awfully lonely." James elbowed Sirius in the side.

"Not lonely now that you're here Padfoot." James countered. He looked at Lily again, who flipped another page, still blushing furiously. James grinned. "Although," he continued, looking back at Lily, "I'm sure Remus isn't feeling as included as we do. Would you mind checking on him?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at his closest friend. "Prongs. I'm not an idiot. I've noticed the shade of Lily's face, and the stupid grin that's been on your face since I sat down. Obviously I'm not the one making you two act so childish. There's no need to trick me. Just know that you owe me a favor for being such a fantastic friend. Like, maybe you could make me the best man at your wedding." And with that, Sirius got up and headed off to his room, taking the bowl of popcorn with him.

Lily froze. She'd kissed boys before. Not like that though. There hadn't been spark like that before. Her skin tingled thinking about it. She couldn't stand to look at James right then.

This was James Freaking Potter she was talking about! James, the boy who had teased her and her friend for the entirety of her Magical Life. The boy who stole her books and wrote in them, or played pranks on her with his friends. The boy whom she'd vowed never to give in to.

And she had kissed him. _Oh no. _She thought to herself. _This is bad. Very, very, bad. _She finally looked at James, who was staring at her, his head kind of tilted like a confused puppy. After a moment, he spoke.

"What I wouldn't give to know what's going through your mind right now." James moved closer to Lily on the couch. His hand moved to touch a few of the loose strands that had fallen out of her ponytail. Lily closed her book as she looked at her companion.

"To be honest Potter, I'm not even sure." She surprised herself at how calmly she spoke. James touching her like that shouldn't feel so natural. She should've been freaking out. But she wasn't, and that made her even more confused. Lily stood up quickly, and James mimicked her actions. He stood over her again.

"Lily. Please. Something like that doesn't just happen without you having an opinion on it. I, for one am very pleased. There, I've said something, now it's your turn." James looked at her hopefully.

Lily found the whole situation extremely odd. Potter was acting very out of character. Not to mention the fact that she was as well. Generally level headed, Lily found herself unable to make anything of the situation. She had no idea what feelings she had towards James, and being so near to him wasn't helping. She needed privacy. "It was nice Potter. I've gotten my book back. I need sleep. We've got a meeting for the Prefects who stayed behind for the holidays in the morning. Erm, goodnight, I guess. Merry Christmas." With that she turned, leaving James standing there.

She did hear him call after her once she'd reached the stairs to the girls' dorm. "Merry Christmas Lily Evans."

She couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face as she walked up the stairs,

The day was coming to an end. By this point, Lily collapsed onto her bed, bumping a parcel off of her pillow. Alice looked up from her book. "Lily, if you drop another present, I'm going to die of a heart-attack."

Lily grabbed the silver parcel off of the floor. "You know Alice, I think you'd make a wonderful Auror. You've certainly got the reflexes for one." She laughed.

"That's exactly what Frank says. Maybe once we graduate, I'll look into it." Alice got up and headed off to the bathroom.

Which left her alone with the present again. It was now or never. She held the small box in her hand again, then turned it over and carefully undid the pretty paper. A small box rested in her palm now, and she took off the lid. Inside, a small silver bracelet, decorated with stars looked back up at her, casting a soft glow through the room. Putting it on, she looked out her window and gazed at the night sky.

All she could think of was James Freaking Potter and that stupid kiss.

**A/N- I think I'm starting to really get into this. Next chapter is a James POV.**


	4. Chapter 4 A Flashback

**A/N- All characters and locations belong to JKR. Enjoy :) **

When James Potter had been sorted into Gryffindor in his first year, he'd never felt so proud in his life. Like his father before him, and his grandfather, there had never been a Potter in any other house.

Luckily, his newfound friend, Sirius Black, had been sorted along with him. The other boys- Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Frank Longbottom, were all good blokes whom he knew he'd get along with.

As he followed the Gryffindor Prefect to his new home, he beamed, both inwardly and outwardly. His house was known for courage, and his mother had always told him he was brave.

Sirius Black fell in step beside him, looking at him with a silly grin on his face. James' new friend had explained his fear of being placed in Slytherin house on the train ride in. Much like the Potters, the Blacks had a history of being placed in one house. Sirius, being one of the white sheep of the Black family, had been ecstatic to not follow through with the legacy of his ancestors.

Remus Lupin, one of the other boys he'd befriended on the train, walked close to the Prefect. James was surprised the small, sandy haired boy wasn't stepping on the older boys heels.

Peter Pettigrew stood by the back of the group, looking around at everything around him, a shocked expression on his face.

The final person he'd met on the train that had been sorted into his group walked just in front of James, her dark red hair bouncing slightly as she made her way up the stairs.

"Watch your step, the false stair has already had a few victims today," called the Prefect attempting to catch the attention of the first years, most of whom had become intrigued by the moving paintings lining the stairs.

James watched as Lily's bouncing slowed to a more cautious climb up the stairs, one at a time. He'd never seen a girl with red hair like that before though. And it had seemed like she hadn't liked him on the train.

James and Sirius had burst into her cabin, collapsing into the seats before realising they weren't alone. Having only known each other for about half an hour, James and Sirius had begun a game of "let's see how much candy we can sweet-talk out of the candy-cart lady." They'd been doing pretty well until she had noticed Sirius pocketing a Chocolate frog. They'd run at that point, looking for empty compartments., eventually collapsing into their current location.

James looked from the red headed girl to her companion, and dark haired boy with a hooked nose and an unpleasant expression. He'd never seen either child before, and he was interested. He lowered himself into an extravagant bow, introducing himself.

"Good afternoon sirs and madams, I'm James Potter, Gryffindor House, and this is Sirius Black, my brother. " Sirius went along with the act and waved regally.

The girl shot him a confused look. The hooked nose boy with the unpleasant face raised his eyebrows. "Well how do you know what house you're in already- Potter, is it? The sorting ceremony isn't until school."

James just grinned. "Well isn't it obvious? Gryffindor is obviously the best house! Brave, determined and courageous! I know I'm going to be in Gryffindor. Everyone else in my family is. It would be rather stupid not to be in it, wouldn't it? It's not like I'd be put in Slytherin. Who'd want that?" The boy looked at the red haired girl.

"Lily. It seems we have unwanted companions. Do you want me to report it to somebody?" Lily looked at James.

"Snape and I would like you to leave now please. I don't know what you've said, but it seems you've said something offensive." With that, the girl stood up and shooed the two boys out of the compartment.

Sirius looked at James as they walked through the corridor, looking for a new one to hide in. The candy lady was nowhere to be found. "She must be muggleborn, not knowing what houses are." He said, opening up a compartment to find some older kids in it already.

"Yeah. I guess. It's weird meeting somebody like that. Everybody I've met has come from a wizarding family. What did you think of that boy she was with? The one with the unfortunate looking everything?" James returned, waving to some kids as he closed their door.

Sirius laughed. "I can tell you two won't be getting along. He seemed like the serious type to me. Like he'd be in Slytherin. Now I really hope I'm not in his house. I'd much rather be with you in Gryffindor House- oh here's one. There are just two blokes in here." James joined his friend in the doorway to the compartment, where two wide eyed boys stared back at them. The sandy-haired boy on the left held a thick book open on his lap. Looking up at the two new strangers, through shaggy bangs, he nodded at them. "I'm Lupin, Remus Lupin. It's nice to meet you."

The boy on the right, also blonde, sat had been munching on a wrapped sandwich, presumably from his mother. "I'm Peter Pettigrew. You can sit down if you'd like. There's still quite a bit of time left till we get there." James and Sirius had sat down, and the four boys had talked all of the way to school, where they'd been sorted into the same house. Snape had, of course been sorted into Slytherin, where to Lily's dismay, she had not been placed. Instead, Lily had been sorted into the same house as the four boys.

And now, she paid no attention to James and Sirius as they walked behind her towards the Common Room. Why doesn't she like me? She's in Gryffindor… it's not like I insulted her or anything. James explained the situation to Sirius, who nodded and told him to run after her.

James easily caught up with Lily, who looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" James thought this unfair.

"I want you to be nicer to me- what was your name? Evans?" He continued after she answered. "I'd like to know what I did to make you not want to talk to me." James looked at Lily, who stared back at him with large green eyes.

"Nothing." Lily's response was short and simple. And it confused James even more. He slowed down for a moment, then looked at Sirius, who shot him an encouraging look, motioning with his hands at Lily's back.

"Then we can be friends?" He asked as he reached her side again. Lily thought hard about this before shaking her head. "Well," he continued, "I don't need your permission to talk to you. You don't need to respond." James had run out of things to say. It didn't make sense to him that someone didn't want to be his friend. He adjusted his glasses, and looked around, trying to find something to talk about.

"Hey, erm, our outfits… they match…your hair! Look at that coincidence! That's…funny." James heard a laugh from behind him as Sirius eavesdropped on his very one-sided conversation. He turned around and shot his friend a look. Lily took this chance for escape, running up to walk with Lupin and the Prefect.

James walked back to Sirius, mumbling grumpily for the rest of the day.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- All characters and locations belong to JK**

James Potter often thought back to that first day he met Lily Evans. A few years after that incident, James had asked Lily to Hogsmeade right before Christmas holiday. He'd realized that year that his longing had not simply been for her friendship, but something more that young boys didn't understand.

Lily, on the other hand, had believed James' offer to be merely a prank.

"That's right Potter. Lead me up to the Shrieking Shack in the middle of winter, and have your stupid friends jump out and do something horrid to me! Sorry, Remus, no offense meant." Remus had been sitting with Lily at the point, helping her with their Divination homework, a class which they both very much despised. He raised his hands as if to say, _I'm not getting involved with this. _

James looked at Lily. "That's hardly fair Evans! Are you seriously still mad at me? Is this about what I said on the train that first day?"

Lily's face reddened she stood up, slamming her hand down on the Common Room table. "No! This isn't about the train ride. This is about you being a git ever since then. You haven't' said a single nice word about Sev, and you're constantly making fun of me, and my other friends. You've played pranks on me, ridiculed me, and I have no clue why you'd think I'd ever go out with you!" Lily looked around the Common Room, noticing that everyone in the room had been staring. Sirius and Peter chose that moment to come down from the room. Sirius was holding a large piece of parchment.

"PRONGS! MOONY!" He roared, as he ran down the staircase, then stopped once he'd hit the bottom step, causing Peter to bump into him, knocking the both of them to the floor. Peter was the first one up, turning red.

"Er, if this is a bad time James, we can come back later, or wait for you to come up on your own…" Peter trailed off as James glared at him. Everyone in the room was now intently staring at either one of the Marauders or Lily.

James sighed. "No, Peter. I'll be right up with you." James didn't look at Lily. He couldn't. Not being used to rejection, her words stung like a slap. He walked off, following Peter and Sirius.

Remus looked at his watch. "Lily. I'm sorry, but I have plans I need to attend to. Do you mind if we put foreseeing our deaths off for a few nights?"

Lily glared at him. "Fine Remus, go off and console Potter. I'm sure he'll be _traumatised _that I didn't go along with his stupid little prank."

Remus looked at Lily with his sad eyes. "Sorry again for having to leave so suddenly. Just know- you'd be surprised about James."

With that, Remus left and Lily sat there for a few minutes, pondering what he'd said.

James had tried many times after, attempting to win Lily's heart.

He'd never been this close before.

So as James Potter laid on his bed, Christmas of his seventh year at Hogwarts, he thought of all the times he'd struck out. All the times he'd messed up, said the wrong words, done the wrong thing.

And it all led up to tonight. Was it fate? That it all happened on the same night he'd asked her out for the first time years ago?

Sirius came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

"So Prongs, tell me all about it." He plopped down on Lupin's bed.

"Oi! Padfoot! Get off my bed while you've got no clothes on!" Remus protested.

"Oh, don't deny it Remus, you've been in love with me since fifth year. I can tell you know, you generally go for me when you've turned." Remus looked around, then at the door, wide eyes.

"Shut up about that Black, or I'll hit you." Remus snapped at his friend. Sirius mocked horror.

"Frank is downstairs with his girlfriend Moony, you're fine. I won't spill about your secret Moony. A girl would have to get me pretty drunk to coerce that secret out of me." Sirius ruffled Remus' hair a bit and then walked over to his trunk to pull out a pair of sweatpants. "But anyways, Prongs, darling. Please, tell us what happened. Remember- you owe me."

James sighed, falling back onto his bed. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened." Sirius interrupted.

"You two finally kissed! Didn't you. Evans was as red as her hair, and you had this dreamy look in your eyes. You finally manned up. Why aren't you dead right now? Evans promised you that if you ever tried anything funny on her, she'd murder you." Sirius, who'd finished getting dressed, walked over to James and poked him really hard in the forehead.

"Ow! I'm not dead you git. Yeah, we kissed. Then you came in, and she went upstairs."

"After I went upstairs, of course. You can't blame it on me Prongs."

"Never said I did, did I Padfoot?"

"Will you two stop it?" Remus had joined in. The two other Marauders looked at him, and sat down. "The important thing here, is that we won't have to listen to Prongs whine about how he messed up with Lily anymore. And I won't have to listen to Lily complaining about Potter." James looked up at Remus again with a confused look on his face.

"She complained about me?"

"Almost every day during the Prefects meetings mate."

Sirius tackled James. "She talked about you _every day Prongsy. _Did you hear?" James hit Sirius in the head.

"Yeah, complaining about me. That's not a good thing, idiot. Although, I'm sure it's better than you get Padfoot." James stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Prongs. I get all the ladies mate. You just never see them… I sneak them in with your invisibility cloak, and I'm so ninja you don't hear anything." Sirius began to dance in a seductive manner. The two other Marauders covered their eyes. "The only one of us that doesn't do all that well with the ladies is you Moony. Even Peter's had a few girlfriends over the years."

Remus rolled his eyes. "We all know I'm far too busy with other things to be able to date."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right… your textbook would miss you too much if you went on anything other than a study date with it. I'm surprised it hasn't complained about you studying with Evans all the time." James teased.

"Although," Sirius added, "I'm not sure how much time you two will be studying together now that Prongsy is in the picture." Sirius put his arm around his best friend, who pushed it away.

"I may not be in the picture yet Padfoot." James looked at the door. ``I haven't talked to her, really." He pulled out the Marauder's map. A creation made on the first night they'd struck out.

A magical map that the Marauders had designed; it showed every known inch of the school. Many little black dots with names written under them spread all over the map.

"Hey look! Snivellus is on patrol tonight… want to go mess with him?" Sirius had apparently been looking over James' shoulder.

"Padfoot…" Remus warned. Regardless of the fact that Snape had a blatant dislike of all four Marauders, even more so ever since a prank of theirs had lost him Lily's friendship at the ending of the previous year, Remus scolded his friends for pranks on the Slytherin Prefect.

"Sorry Sirius, I'm going to have to agree with Remus on that one." James added. His attention had been caught by someone else. Someone sitting in the Gyffindor Common Room.

James signed off the map, leaving Moony and Sirius debating the good and bad points on bewitching vehicles. (Who knows how they got onto that subject.)

He just barely heard Sirius exclaim, "But how can you say a flying motorcycle wouldn't be cool!" Before he closed the door behind him.

James Potter often thought back to that first day he met Lily Evans. A few years after that incident, James had asked Lily to Hogsmeade right before Christmas holiday. He'd realized that year that his longing had not simply been for her friendship, but something more that young boys didn't understand.

Lily, on the other hand, had believed James' offer to be merely a prank.

"That's right Potter. Lead me up to the Shrieking Shack in the middle of winter, and have your stupid friends jump out and do something horrid to me! Sorry, Remus, no offense meant." Remus had been sitting with Lily at the point, helping her with their Divination homework, a class which they both very much despised. He raised his hands as if to say, _I'm not getting involved with this. _

James looked at Lily. "That's hardly fair Evans! Are you seriously still mad at me? Is this about what I said on the train that first day?"

Lily's face reddened she stood up, slamming her hand down on the Common Room table. "No! This isn't about the train ride. This is about you being a git ever since then. You haven't' said a single nice word about Sev, and you're constantly making fun of me, and my other friends. You've played pranks on me, ridiculed me, and I have no clue why you'd think I'd ever go out with you!" Lily looked around the Common Room, noticing that everyone in the room had been staring. Sirius and Peter chose that moment to come down from the room. Sirius was holding a large piece of parchment.

"PRONGS! MOONY!" He roared, as he ran down the staircase, then stopped once he'd hit the bottom step, causing Peter to bump into him, knocking the both of them to the floor. Peter was the first one up, turning red.

"Er, if this is a bad time James, we can come back later, or wait for you to come up on your own…" Peter trailed off as James glared at him. Everyone in the room was now intently staring at either one of the Marauders or Lily.

James sighed. "No, Peter. I'll be right up with you." James didn't look at Lily. He couldn't. Not being used to rejection, her words stung like a slap. He walked off, following Peter and Sirius.

Remus looked at his watch. "Lily. I'm sorry, but I have plans I need to attend to. Do you mind if we put foreseeing our deaths off for a few nights?"

Lily glared at him. "Fine Remus, go off and console Potter. I'm sure he'll be _traumatised _that I didn't go along with his stupid little prank."

Remus looked at Lily with his sad eyes. "Sorry again for having to leave so suddenly. Just know- you'd be surprised about James."

With that, Remus left and Lily sat there for a few minutes, pondering what he'd said.

James had tried many times after, attempting to win Lily's heart.

He'd never been this close before.

So as James Potter laid on his bed, Christmas of his seventh year at Hogwarts, he thought of all the times he'd struck out. All the times he'd messed up, said the wrong words, done the wrong thing.

And it all led up to tonight. Was it fate? That it all happened on the same night he'd asked her out for the first time years ago?

Sirius came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

"So Prongs, tell me all about it." He plopped down on Lupin's bed.

"Oi! Padfoot! Get off my bed while you've got no clothes on!" Remus protested.

"Oh, don't deny it Remus, you've been in love with me since fifth year. I can tell you know, you generally go for me when you've turned." Remus looked around, then at the door, wide eyes.

"Shut up about that Black, or I'll hit you." Remus snapped at his friend. Sirius mocked horror.

"Frank is downstairs with his girlfriend Moony, you're fine. I won't spill about your secret Moony. A girl would have to get me pretty drunk to coerce that secret out of me." Sirius ruffled Remus' hair a bit and then walked over to his trunk to pull out a pair of sweatpants. "But anyways, Prongs, darling. Please, tell us what happened. Remember- you owe me."

James sighed, falling back onto his bed. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened." Sirius interrupted.

"You two finally kissed! Didn't you. Evans was as red as her hair, and you had this dreamy look in your eyes. You finally manned up. Why aren't you dead right now? Evans promised you that if you ever tried anything funny on her, she'd murder you." Sirius, who'd finished getting dressed, walked over to James and poked him really hard in the forehead.

"Ow! I'm not dead you git. Yeah, we kissed. Then you came in, and she went upstairs."

"After I went upstairs, of course. You can't blame it on me Prongs."

"Never said I did, did I Padfoot?"

"Will you two stop it?" Remus had joined in. The two other Marauders looked at him, and sat down. "The important thing here, is that we won't have to listen to Prongs whine about how he messed up with Lily anymore. And I won't have to listen to Lily complaining about Potter." James looked up at Remus again with a confused look on his face.

"She complained about me?"

"Almost every day during the Prefects meetings mate."

Sirius tackled James. "She talked about you _every day Prongsy. _Did you hear?" James hit Sirius in the head.

"Yeah, complaining about me. That's not a good thing, idiot. Although, I'm sure it's better than you get Padfoot." James stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Prongs. I get all the ladies mate. You just never see them… I sneak them in with your invisibility cloak, and I'm so ninja you don't hear anything." Sirius began to dance in a seductive manner. The two other Marauders covered their eyes. "The only one of us that doesn't do all that well with the ladies is you Moony. Even Peter's had a few girlfriends over the years."

Remus rolled his eyes. "We all know I'm far too busy with other things to be able to date."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right… your textbook would miss you too much if you went on anything other than a study date with it. I'm surprised it hasn't complained about you studying with Evans all the time." James teased.

"Although," Sirius added, "I'm not sure how much time you two will be studying together now that Prongsy is in the picture." Sirius put his arm around his best friend, who pushed it away.

"I may not be in the picture yet Padfoot." James looked at the door. ``I haven't talked to her, really." He pulled out the Marauder's map. A creation made on the first night they'd struck out.

A magical map that the Marauders had designed; it showed every known inch of the school. Many little black dots with names written under them spread all over the map.

"Hey look! Snivellus is on patrol tonight… want to go mess with him?" Sirius had apparently been looking over James' shoulder.

"Padfoot…" Remus warned. Regardless of the fact that Snape had a blatant dislike of all four Marauders, even more so ever since a prank of theirs had lost him Lily's friendship at the ending of the previous year, Remus scolded his friends for pranks on the Slytherin Prefect.

"Sorry Sirius, I'm going to have to agree with Remus on that one." James added. His attention had been caught by someone else. Someone sitting in the Gyffindor Common Room.

James signed off the map, leaving Moony and Sirius debating the good and bad points on bewitching vehicles. (Who knows how they got onto that subject.)

He just barely heard Sirius exclaim, "But how can you say a flying motorcycle wouldn't be cool!" Before he closed the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N- All characters and locations belong to JKR**

The outline of her head was just visible in the dim haze of the dying fire. James leaned on the doorframe at the bottom of the stairs and just watched her.

He loved the way she tucked her loose hair behind her ear. And the way she covered her mouth while she yawned, even though she thought no one was looking. James was feeling nervous, which was something he rarely felt. When he'd tried out for the Quidditch Team, he hadn't had a butterfly in his stomach, the same with all of his games. Taking the Apparation test, he'd walked in confidently. The first time he'd asked out Lily Evans, no nerves.

But now, staring at this girl in front of him, James Potter felt sick to his stomach.

_What if she says no? _James knew he should be used to rejection from Lily. He'd been experiencing it for years now. This one would be different though. _I won't be able to get over it this time. _It was now or never. James took a step down and spoke. "What are you doing up Lily Evans? Didn't you know it's past curfew?". Lily jumped and looked around wide-eyed, finally spotting James.

Lily looked down and fiddled with something in her lap before speaking.

"Well, I suppose we should get this over with James. Come on over here." James' heart sank. _She's never called me that before. She sounded sad. This is bad already. Don't go over there Potter. This is a bad mistake. _But his legs were already moving towards the couch.

He looked at Lily as he sat down. She sat with her legs crossed, hiding her hands in her sweatpants. Like him, she wore a baggy shirt that looked fantastic on her. She'd let down her hair from earlier, and it fell in waves around her face. The dim firelight reflected in her eyes.

"James, there's something I need to tell you, "she began. "This isn't going to be easy to admit. We've been at this for so long, and it's going to be hard to forget it." James dropped his gaze to the ground.

"I figured this was coming Evans." Lily look confused.

"You did? Hell Potter, I didn't even see it coming." She sat a bit closer to him, and put her hand on his knee. James looked at her arm, shocked for two reasons. First, he hadn't expected another rejection to be so physical. Second, on her arm sat the silver bracelet he'd given her earlier that day. _She was wearing it. _She wouldn't be wearing it if she was rejecting him.

James' face lit up as he grabbed her wrist.

"Oi, Potter. Don't think that I'm saying we can do anything like that just because I'm doing something I may very well regret." Lily retreated back to her corner.

"Lily. What are you saying?" James was beaming.

"Well, I guess… I've decided that I admire your persistence. You've fancied me awhile, and although you annoy the hell out of me sometimes, I'm ready to give you a chance." Lily smiled at James. "I guess that's what I'm trying to say?"

"Lily Evans." James began, "you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. " James leaned forwards, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"James. I was serious about the Prefects meeting early in the morning."

"Yeah Evans… that's why you were sitting down here by yourself, waiting for me to show up."

"I wasn't waiting for you. I was trying to get some sleep. Alice has got Frank over, and he snores. I don't know how you manage having him as a roommate."

"Lily, we're wizards. We use magic every night. How else could I stay this good looking?" James grinned as Lily laughed.

"Potter, you're not half bad. You're full of yourself, but I think I'll be able to knock you off of your pedestal." Lily yawned again as she leaned against James.

"Yeah, Lily? I don't think you'll be knocking anything off of anywhere tonight. Get some shut-eye." James turned to look at her again.

"Potter?" She mumbled. _Damn, she's cute when she's tired. _

"Evans?" He replied, starting to feel tired as well.

She leaned in and kissed him, softly.

"Merry Christmas."

"Very Merry Christmas Lily Evans."

She wrapped her arms around him, taking in his smell.

Lily made her way up the staircase, feeling his gaze on her until he couldn't see her anymore.

She collapsed onto her bed, taking out her wand. "Silencio" she muttered, and the room fell silent. Turning over, she crawled under her sheets. Looking one last time at her bracelet, she smiled.

After years of confusing feelings, she'd made a decision.

She loved James Freaking Potter.

And she didn't mind that that might not be the best idea.

Because James Freaking Potter loved her back.

**A/N- Well, I guess I'm done. If you liked it, please review. Hopefully I'll write more soon, maybe a different fandom, or a different character, but probably more Jily and the gang.**

** Cheers :)**


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